Just need to vent. I have had two separate shops with different companies where the instructions could be interpreted two different ways. I conducted the shop, however, since I misinterpreted one requirement, they decline the shop entirely.

I read everything carefully, several times before each shop. I follow the instructions. I have a post-graduate business degree - I don't have any problems with reading comprehension. I guess I am frustrated with wasting my time on things and not getting reimbursed for them. What is most frustrating is when I don't realize there's a problem until after I complete all of the reports and they still have my reviews and don't compensate me at all.

Thanks - just needed to vent. Will probably take a break from mystery shops for awhile after I complete my pending assignments.

Yep, I get that, I just had a phone survey refused because I didn't talk to the person they wanted in the store. How am I supposed to know that the one answering the phone will not answer in the way they wanted? Am I not supposed to act as a real customer? A customer will not ask for the "cremation director" when calling a funeral home, right?

cremation director, lol -- I did not pick up any of those shops...I don't think I could keep a straight face. I laughed enough reading those descriptions.

Hi Etienne,

I did that shop too and I had to leave my number as a call-back. When the "cremation director" returned my call, I told him I needed to call him back in a couple minutes (so I could get the whole thing recorded)...that did not work as planned as he was calling from his cell and not from the office. So rather than playing "phone tag" I called him on his cell and completed the shop but that call was not recorded. I noted all this in my report and my report was accepted.

The guidelines are there to help you get a general idea of what is required. Sometimes you have to improvise slightly to get the info to complete your reports. A "real" customer would give their personal number if they were serious about getting cremation information.

The best idea in general is (besides reading and following the guidelines, of course) to always contact the MSP that posted the shop straight away, for every single thing that might confuse you, or give you a dilemma, or sound ambiguous, etc. They know their shops best, their schedulers/editors will clear up all the confusion, and you can always refer to the correspondence with them if your shop is declined or returned, etc. If you follow their instructions, you can't go wrong there. :)

I understand completely. Like when they asked you to go to every section amd if you miss just one the will decline your entire shop. I worked so hard, travelled so far and ate and drank as much as I could because I didn't want to waste my money on the things they wanted me to order. I asked for receipts and looked at their name tags and interacted as much as I could. But when it was time to upload pictures it was really confusing. It says you have to have all the receipts then it says to upload all of them, how can you upload about 7 receipts when it only can capture for one. They could have gotten back to me to ask for the rest but after about 2 weeks of waiting if the shop approved or not they decline it because of some excuse saying that employee doesn't serve alcohol. I have all the receipts they should have asked there's a name on the receipt I didn't make it up. It plusses me off because there was no consideration whatsoever. I worked my ads off and travelled really far to do it.

Hi Marjorie,

I am very sorry to hear that - you should always keep the communication going with the MSP, and explain this to them as well. If the shop report itself is unacceptable by their rules/standards, then they can't make a payment to you for it (they won't be able to send it to the client and get paid for it either), but they can at least restore your points and offer you another shop. Again, it might not be much, but it's something - bad situations like that one sometimes unfortunately happen, so all we can do is make the best out of every situation.

Thank you for sharing!

Etienne @ Aug 4, 2017 1:05:26 AM

Yep, I get that, I just had a phone survey refused because I didn't talk to the person they wanted in the store. How am I supposed to know that the one answering the phone will not answer in the way they wanted? Am I not supposed to act as a real customer? A customer will not ask for the "cremation director" when calling a funeral home, right?

I don't think so either,unless the person has more than 1 job there, LOL

James_15024326288725 @ Aug 11, 2017 7:11:21 AM

Hi Etienne,

I did that shop too and I had to leave my number as a call-back. When the "cremation director" returned my call, I told him I needed to call him back in a couple minutes (so I could get the whole thing recorded)...that did not work as planned as he was calling from his cell and not from the office. So rather than playing "phone tag" I called him on his cell and completed the shop but that call was not recorded. I noted all this in my report and my report was accepted.

The guidelines are there to help you get a general idea of what is required. Sometimes you have to improvise slightly to get the info to complete your reports. A "real" customer would give their personal number if they were serious about getting cremation information.

Hi James,

I had the same issue happen to me twice; the first time my shop was accepted and paid. The second time it happened, which was a month or two later, it was declined because they said I didn't record the call and that the next time something comes up, I need to first contact the MSP and let them know and they will decide how I should proceed. Mind you, the first time it happened I did contact the MSP first before calling them back on their cell phone to complete the call. But the second time I didn't contact the MSP when it happened, because I just assumed that it would be okay since it had happened before. That was completely my fault though, because they made an exception for me the first time. I suggest to anyone doing these shops just make sure it's okay with the MSP first before completing a recorded call shop that's not being recorded lol.

As an added advice and incentive, I would also make it a point to say to contact the MSP on any issue (!) for each and every shop for each and every MSP you are assigned. Any question, comment, or even suggestion on how to proceed. Most shop instructions say these items and things in some form or another.

Hope that also helps everyone.